My take on the vicious battle going on in my mentions about the Canucks:

1. Pettersson/Boeser/Hughes is a core that can win a Cup one day.
2. Benning's signings (Sutter, Myers, Eriksson, Beagle) will make turning the team into a real contender more difficult.

Cup contenders aren't built in a day, and building a strong supporting cast is challenging. But I don't think it's unreasonable for Canucks fans to be concerned about 1. whether Benning has given himself the flexibility to do it and 2. whether he'll even be able to

"Most of those contracts will expire by the time the team is ready to contend!" - But what indication is there that Benning won't replace those contracts with other bad ones? He signed Myers just last summer. Is he learning his lesson?

The JT Miller acquisition looks like the type of shrewd supporting cast move that helps a team contend - like Kunitz or Neal to the Penguins did. But will he be able to make more of those moves when he's in a self-imposed salary cap straitjacket?